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Nonprofits get prelim injunction to prevent removal of donation bins

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Detroit and two East Coast nonprofits with Michigan operations have obtained a preliminary injunction against Houston-based American Textile Recycling Services, preventing the company from removing their donation bins from local sites.

U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood granted the preliminary injunction Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Joining St. Vincent de Paul in the lawsuit are Maryland-based Planet Aid and Massachusetts-based Institute for International Cooperation and Development, which joined the case in October.

"We are pleased with the decision of the court," said Daniel Dalton, partner at Dalton & Tomich plc of Detroit, which is representing the nonprofits in the case. "Our hope is that the decision of the court will send a strong message that this sort of conduct by a for-profit entity towards charities is outrageously outside the bounds of what is acceptable. "

The lawsuit against American Textile Recycling filed in September claims illegal seizure and disposal of the nonprofits' donation bins at several sites in Southeast Michigan beginning in the fall of 2012.

The suit alleges that American Textile contracted with Jackson-based JA Hauling to remove and dispose of bins at certain locations as part of a plan to conceal its involvement. The intent, according to the lawsuit, was to pave the way for for-profit American Textile to put its own bins in those locations.

The nonprofits seek the return of the bins — which were scrapped at American Textile's direction, JA Hauling said in a deposition — the contents of the bins and damages in excess of $75,000 to help cover lost donations for the time the bins weren't in place.